Yves Saint Laurent's Rouge Volupté is probably my most favorite lipstick at this moment. Rouge Volupté is highly pigmented, silky-smooth, creamy, and almost moisturizing. Its lasting power is fairly decent and the lipstick even has a little shine. Like Gloss Pur, Rouge Volupté has a starfruit-like scent. 29 Rose Opéra is one of the newer shades released as part of YSL's 2010 Spring Point Makeup collection. It is a bright and cool rose-pink shade that I would not normally wear but looked so beautiful in Voce magazine that I just had to have it. It is a great color for spring and even if you do not care for bright lipstick shades, I highly recommend that you at least check it out. The Rouge Volupté packaging is also very luxurious and decadent, and the cap even has a mirror to help you apply your lipstick whenever, wherever. YSL is quickly becoming my favorite makeup brand when it comes to lip makeup.

Two months ago, high-end skincare company Ignis released four different masks in their Treasure Mini Esthe Line. Since I suffer from both dry and irritated skin, I decided to give their Mini Esthe Mask Smoothing a try. Mask Smoothing is a mask to both hydrate and calm the skin. It comes with a packet of powder, gel, and a mixing bowl and spatula. To make the mask, pour the powder into the plastic mixing bowl, add the gel and mix the ingredients for about one minute. The mixture should have a fluffy texture and light green color. Apply the product to your face with the spatula after you have gone through your regular skincare routine and leave it on for 3 minutes. Use the spatula to remove the product or tissue it off when you are done. Do not wash off the mask with water.

Mask Smoothing is incredibly cool on the face and quite soothing. It has a lavender scent that is somewhat strong but not overpowering. After removing the mask, I noticed that some of the redness in my face had dissipated although that might have been due to the green color of the mask (as green neutralizes red). Though the mask ingredients do contain ethanol and menthol, which my skin often cannot tolerate, they did not irritate at all. This could be because the mask is not applied for very long. I used the mask right before going to bed which is what I recommend unless you plan to spend the day relaxing at home. My face did feel slightly sticky before going to bed but was smooth by morning.

The mini-esthe mask is rather expensive though cheaper than some of the other high-end masks such as SKII's sheet masks. There is more than enough product in Mask Smoothing for two or three masks but because the mask ingredients come in packets and cannot be stored once opened, you cannot use the mask ingredients more than once. I cannot say that the results were dramatic enough to convince me to use it again but Mask Smoothing does seem like it would be a nice cosmetic treat for your skin on a hot day. One Ignis Mini-esthe Mask Smoothing is 1575 yen (including tax). For those of you interested in sheet masks, Ignis has also released the Nature Water Mask which is a sheet mask for regular skincare use.